This Key Lime Fudge recipe has turned out to be a very popular fudge recipe. It’s sweet and delicious, and it has that tangy taste of lime that we love so much in key lime pie! Watch the short how-to video showing you how to make this fudge, and then you can scroll to the bottom of this post and print out the recipe so you can make it at home.
Key Lime Fudge
It’s not a typical fudge flavor at all. In fact, it’s not even chocolate! There’s white chocolate in the recipe, but we all know that’s not really chocolate. The white chocolate acts as a vessel for containing an amazing sweet lime flavor. If you’re a lime lover, then this fudge recipe is for you.
Key Lime Fudge is a nice fudge to make during the holiday season to place on holiday treat platters or for gifting to friends and neighbors. I think people like to see and sample something that is a little different. This is definitely different than your typical fudge recipe.
What are Key Limes?
Key limes get their name from the Florida Keys, where Key Lime Pies are abundant! They have a stronger scent and a thinner rind than the typical lime. The flavor is more tart and bitter.
Have you ever picked up a bag of key limes? They’re awfully cute. They’re tiny little things. You’ve gotta squeeze the heck out of them to get every bit of their juice, but it’s all worth it.
These limes present themselves nicely in sweet treats (like key lime pie!) since the sugar balances out that tart flavor and highlights the unique flavor of the key lime. I love them! And if you love them too, then you must try my Key Lime Pie Ice Cream!
How do you make Key Lime Fudge?
Evaporated milk, sugar and salt are heated together in a saucepan and boiled for 8 minutes. Once that mixture has boiled for several minutes, it’ll be piping hot. At that point, you’ll pull the pan off the stove and stir in marshmallows, white chocolate, lime zest and lime juice. All should melt nicely, and then you’ll scrape the fudge mixture into a pan to cool. Once cooled, it’s ready to be cut into squares and eaten!
Can you use regular limes to make Key Lime Fudge?
You can most certainly use regular limes for this fudge. They might give the fudge a slightly sweeter flavor, but all will still be good. Don’t skimp on the lime zest in this recipe since it gives the fudge a fabulous green tint, and it adds a good amount of lime flavor to the recipe too. Oh, and if you want to make the whole process of making this Key Lime Fudge a zillion times easier, then just buy Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Juice in your market’s juice section. It’ll work just fine for this recipe!
So if you’re wishing for a little “spring” in your life and it hasn’t quite arrived yet, treat yourself to some Key Lime Fudge instead. Or surprise gift your friends for the holidays with a little Key Lime Fudge!
If you’re as obsessed with lime as I am, you might also enjoy my Iced Lemon Lime Cookies or this Lime- Coconut Buttermilk Pie. Lime Sugar Cookies, Chicken with Lime Butter and Super Easy Lime Bars are delicious lime recipes too!
Key Lime Fudge
Ingredients
- One 5-ounce can 2% evaporated milk
- 1⅔ cups granulated white sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 12 large marshmallows, quartered
- 2 cups white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup grated lime zest (about 5 limes)
- 2 tablespoons key lime juice (5 to 7 limes, juiced)
Instructions
- Line an 8" x 8" square pan with aluminum foil; grease the foil with butter. It's not a good recipe for a 9-inch square pan as the fudge will be too thin.
- Combine the milk, sugar and salt in a large heavy saucepan (or better yet... a double boiler) over medium heat. Stir and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and boil for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly at a boil (if you have a candy thermometer, you can bring it to the soft-ball-stage, but I don't use one). Remove the pan from heat. Add the marshmallows, chocolate, zest and juice, and stir until the marshmallows and chocolate are melted and the mixture is smooth. Scrape the fudge into the prepared pan. Tip the pan to make sure the fudge covers the bottom evenly. Cool completely, then cut into 1-inch squares.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If I wanted to use marshmallow fluff instead of the big marshmallows how big of a jar would i use
I haven’t tried that, so I’m not sure!
Wonderful!!!!!! How do I store the fudge?
A sealed container at room temperature!
I’m thinking of making these for a ‘cookie’ exchange (instead of cookies) so I need to make a larger amount. I know they would be ‘thinner’ but is it a big deal to put it in a jellyroll pan instead of an 8×8?
I’m not sure… but I would definitely suggest that you try this out before your cookie exchange. Fudge can be tricky, and I would hate to have you try it and be disappointed with the results.
Fudge turned out great! I’m taking it to our county fair next week to be judged!!!!!
Hopefully you are making a new batch closer to the fair date!
You can usually size up a recipe using the surface area, to keep it the same depth. So because this recipe is for an 8×8 pan, that’s a 64 square inches of surface area, that this regular recipe makes. So if you had a pan with a surface area of 10×10 for example, that’s 100 square inches, so you need to multiply everything in the recipe by 1.56 (which is 100/64).
I did this when I wanted to double the recipe, so I needed about 128 square inches, so I used an 11×11 pan which was as close as I could get, and it came out great.
Hope that makes sense and is helpful!
Everyone loved this fudge
Will be carrying this to my sorority meeting. I know it is delicious !
So good and so easy to make. Technically it’s not cooled yet but I tried some of what was left in the pan that cool and solidified and it was delicious. I may make another batch with cream cheese chips instead of white chocolate chips. The white chocolate was fine I just have cream cheese chips and want to see how it tastes that way. I wasn’t sure if I should let it cool at room temperature or if I should put it in the fridge or freezer. Not sure I did the right thing but a google search told me cooling fudge too quickly in the fridge or freezer could ruin the texture. Is this true? Ive never made fudge before so I don’t really know.
Never made fudge in my life before trying this recipe. I’ve now made 7 batches and all are phenomenal! Everyone loves it. Just made 3 more batches for Memorial Day weekend for varies celebration venues. Oh… and I don’t use a candy thermometer.
Happy to hear that!
Question: Is there no butter or other kind of fat to smooth out the consistency of the fudge? I have made fantasy fudge for years, and this is the first time I’ve come across a recipe w/o it.
No- the recipe is from Southern Living… so it’s listed as originally written.
Don’t think you should do this without a candy thermometer. I followed the directions but when removed from heat mixture is completely wrong and adding marshmallows, chocolate, etc is a complete disaster. Total waste of money.
If you don’t have a candy thermometer just get a cup of water and drop a small drop of candy mixture into the water. When the proper stage is reached, the candy will form a soft ball in the bottom of the water!
I don’t remove mine from the heat until it’s all completely melted and smooth. I lower the temp slightly and continue stirring and mashing the marshmallows and chocolate against the edge of the pan. It will smooth out if you do that. Also, I add the chips and marshmallows with only part of the lime juice and get that smooth before adding more. That really helps. I’ve been making this for years and learned some tricks!!
Can you use marshmellow creme instead of marshmellows?
I haven’t tried the recipe using marshmallow creme, but someone shared in the comments that they used a small container of marshmallow fluff and that it worked out great.
I use them interchangeably. Although marshmallows require more stirring.